Over the past couple of weeks, Paul Coyer had a series of conversations with Rabbi Pynchas Brener about the history of the Jewish community in Venezuela, the role it has played both prior to and during the period of Chavismo, and his hopes for his nation’s future.

National Security Advisor John Bolton labeled the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela as Latin America’s “Troika of Tyranny.” Does this signal a drastic change in US foreign policy toward Latin America? Or can we expect more of the same?

We have heard much in recent years about Washington’s “Pacific pivot” aimed at deterring Chinese adventurism in the South China Sea and the “reassurance initiative” aimed at deterring Russian revisionism in Eastern Europe. What has received far less attention is Beijing’s pivot to the Americas and Moscow’s revival of Cold War-style intervention in the Western Hemisphere.

Had Castro been executed while in prison, history may indeed have absolved him for his role in attempting to overthrow the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Instead, Castro would live to become an even more brutal and ruthless despot than the one he replaced.